Insurer Amalgamations and Asset Releases

Summary#

This Canada Gazette page contains several short notices about company moves: proposed mergers (amalgamations) among some insurers and banks, and two foreign insurers asking the federal regulator for permission to release their assets held in Canada. If you are a policyholder, creditor, customer, employee or shareholder of the named companies, these items could affect how your accounts, policies or claims are handled.

What it does#

• Four insurers — Definity Insurance Company, Perth Insurance Company, The Missisquoi Insurance Company, and Waterloo Insurance Company — say they plan to apply for letters patent to combine into one company called Definity Insurance Company (English) / Compagnie d’assurance Definity (French). The merged company’s head office would be in Waterloo, Ontario. The proposed effective date is January 1, 2024 (or another date set by the letters patent). The notice says publication does not mean the merger will definitely be approved.

• PACIFIC LIFE RE LIMITED plans to apply to the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (Canada) for an order to release the assets it holds in Canada. The company intends to apply on August 3, 2023. Policyholders or creditors who oppose that release can send an objection by mail or email to OSFI on or before August 3, 2023:

  • Mail: Regulatory Affairs Division, 255 Albert Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H2
  • Email: approvals-approbations@osfi-bsif.gc.ca

• A group led by Royal Bank of Canada and including HSBC Bank Canada, HSBC Trust Company (Canada), HSBC Mortgage Corporation (Canada) and HSBC Finance Mortgages Inc. plans to apply under the Bank Act (Canada) to amalgamate as Royal Bank of Canada. They intend to apply on or after July 8, 2023. The plan is conditional on RBC completing a share purchase (agreement dated November 29, 2022) to acquire all the shares of HSBC Bank Canada. If that acquisition does not complete, the amalgamation will not happen.

• United American Insurance Company plans to apply to OSFI for an order to release the assets it holds in Canada on or after July 22, 2023. Policyholders or creditors who oppose can file an objection by mail or email to OSFI on or before July 22, 2023:

  • Mail: Regulatory Affairs Directorate, 255 Albert Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H2
  • Email: Approvals-Approbations@osfi-bsif.gc.ca

Who's affected#

• Policyholders and creditors of PACIFIC LIFE RE LIMITED and United American Insurance Company. They can oppose the proposed asset releases by the stated deadlines.
• Customers, policyholders, employees and shareholders of the four insurers planning to merge into Definity Insurance Company. They may see changes in who manages policies or where corporate decisions are made.
• Customers, employees and shareholders of HSBC Bank Canada and Royal Bank of Canada. Any change depends on the completion of the planned share purchase and regulatory approvals.
• The notices are short and factual. If a notice is unclear about local operational effects, that remains uncertain until regulators act or companies provide more detail.

Why it matters#

• Mergers can change who you deal with for claims, customer service, and account management. That can mean new contact points, different paperwork, or changes in where decisions are made.
• If a regulator allows an insurer to release its Canadian assets, that could affect how the insurer pays claims or deals with creditors in Canada. Affected policyholders and creditors have the right to file objections by the listed deadlines (August 3, 2023 and July 22, 2023).
• The proposed bank amalgamation would be a notable consolidation in Canadian banking, but it is conditional on a separate share purchase and on regulatory approval, so it may not happen.